Thomas Rockwell | |
---|---|
Born | Thomas Rhodes Rockwell March 13, 1933 New Rochelle, New York, U.S. |
Died | September 27, 2024 91) Danbury, Connecticut, U.S. | (aged
Occupation | Novelist |
Alma mater | Bard College |
Period | 1960–1990 |
Notable works | How to Eat Fried Worms (1973) |
Spouse | Gail Sudler (m. 1955;died 2010) |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Norman Rockwell (father) |
Thomas Rhodes Rockwell (March 13, 1933 – September 27, 2024) was an American author of children's books, best known for writing How to Eat Fried Worms .
Rockwell was born in New Rochelle, New York, in 1933, the son of the American artist Norman Rockwell and his second wife Mary Rockwell, a school teacher and unpublished author. [1] He grew up in Arlington, Vermont, a very rural small town. He attended a one-room schoolhouse; there were 23 students in his high school graduating class. His early mentors were Jim and Clara Edgerton, local farmers. [2] He attended Bard College. [1] In 1955, he married Gail Sudler, who was often the illustrator for his books; they had two children and were married until her death in 2010. [1]
Rockwell said that he always wanted to write. He was co-writer of his father's 1960 autobiography, My Adventures as an Illustrator. He got the idea of writing children's books when he started reading to his own son, Barnaby. His wife Gail illustrated several of his books. [3]
His best-known book is How to Eat Fried Worms (1973), about a boy who accepts a US$50(equivalent to $340 in 2023) bet to eat one worm per day for 15 days. [1] Although it was rejected by 23 publishers before finally coming out in print, the book sold well over 3 million copies and received the Mark Twain Award, the California Young Reader Medal, and the Sequoyah Book Award. [1] It was made into an animated TV episode of CBS Storybreak in 1985 and a 2006 film. [1]
In 2013, Rockwell and his daughter, Abigail, “vehemently condemned” Deborah Solomon’s book American Mirror, a falsified biography of Norman Rockwell [4] which floated unsupported theories that he was gay and experienced "pedophilic impulses". [1] The family described the book as "fraudulent". [5]
Rockwell lived in LaGrangeville, a hamlet in LaGrange, New York. [2] He died from complications of Parkinson's disease at a hospice in Danbury, Connecticut, on September 27, 2024, at the age of 91. [1] [5]
Norman Percevel Rockwell was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of the country's culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over nearly five decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter, The Problem We All Live With, Saying Grace, and the Four Freedoms series. He is also noted for his 64-year relationship with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), during which he produced covers for their publication Boys' Life, calendars, and other illustrations. These works include popular images that reflect the Scout Oath and Scout Law such as The Scoutmaster, A Scout Is Reverent, and A Guiding Hand.
James Gurney is an American artist and author known for his illustrated book series Dinotopia, which is presented in the form of a 19th-century explorer's journal from an island utopia cohabited by humans and dinosaurs.
Fred Marcellino was an American illustrator and later an author of children's books who was very influential in the book industry. Publisher Nan Talese said that Marcellino could "in one image, translate the whole feeling and style of a book." Such was the case with his evocative painting for Judith Rossner's August, published and edited by Talese.
Hallie Kate Eisenberg is an American former child actress, best known for being "The Pepsi Girl" in a series of Pepsi commercials, as Marie Alweather in Paulie, and her role as Erika "Erk" Tansy in How to Eat Fried Worms.
Alexander A. Schomburg, born Alejandro Schomburg y Rosa, was a Puerto Rican commercial artist and comic-book artist and painter whose career lasted over 70 years.
Joseph Christian Leyendecker was one of the most prominent and financially successful freelance commercial artists in the U.S. He was active between 1895 and 1951 producing drawings and paintings for hundreds of posters, books, advertisements, and magazine covers and stories. He is best known for his 80 covers for Collier's Weekly, 322 covers for The Saturday Evening Post, and advertising illustrations for B. Kuppenheimer men's clothing and Arrow brand shirts and detachable collars. He was one of the few known gay artists working in the early-twentieth century U.S.
How to Eat Fried Worms is a children's book written by Thomas Rockwell, first published in 1973. The novel's plot involves a boy eating worms as part of a bet. It has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association's list of most commonly challenged books in the United States of 1990–2000 at number 96. It was later turned into a CBS Storybreak episode in the mid-1980s, and a movie of the same name in 2006.
Ryan Timothy Malgarini is an American actor, best known for his role as Harry Coleman in Freaky Friday (2003).
Harry Bliss is an American cartoonist and illustrator. He has illustrated many books and produced thousands of cartoons including 25 covers for The New Yorker. He has a syndicated single-panel comic titled Bliss. Bliss is syndicated through Tribune Content Agency and appears in over 80 newspapers in the United States, Canada, and Japan.
How to Eat Fried Worms is a 2006 American children's comedy film written and directed by Bob Dolman. It was produced by Mark Johnson and Philip Steuer, with music by Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh of Devo. The movie is loosely based on Thomas Rockwell's 1973 children's book of the same name. It was co-produced by Walden Media, and distributed by New Line Cinema.
Deborah Solomon is an American art critic, journalist and biographer. She writes for The New York Times, where she was previously a columnist. Her weekly column, "Questions For" ran in The New York Times Magazine from 2003 to 2011. She was subsequently the art critic for WNYC Public Radio, the New York City affiliate of NPR. She is sometimes confused with another reporter, Deborah B. Solomon, who is a financial journalist now working at The New York Times after a long career at The Wall Street Journal.
Robert Kraus was an American children's author illustrator, cartoonist and publisher. His successful career began early at the New Yorker Magazine, producing over hundreds of cartoons and nearly two dozen covers for the magazine over 15 years. Afterwards, he pivoted his career to children's literature, writing and illustrating over 100 children’s books and publishing even more as the founder of publishing house Windmill Books. His body of work is best remembered for depicting animal heroes who always try their best and never give up, which were ideals important to him at an early age.
Freedom from Fear is the last of the well-known Four Freedoms oil paintings produced by the American artist Norman Rockwell. The series was based on the four goals known as the Four Freedoms, which were enunciated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his State of the Union Address on January 6, 1941. This work was published in the March 13, 1943, issue of The Saturday Evening Post alongside an essay by a prominent thinker of the day, Stephen Vincent Benét. The painting is generally described as depicting American children being tucked into bed by their parents while the Blitz rages across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom.
The Four Freedoms is a series of four oil paintings made in 1943 by the American artist Norman Rockwell. The paintings—Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear—are each approximately 45.75 by 35.5 inches, and are now in the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The four freedoms refer to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's January 1941 Four Freedoms State of the Union address, in which he identified essential human rights that should be universally protected. The theme was incorporated into the Atlantic Charter, and became part of the Charter of the United Nations. The paintings were reproduced in The Saturday Evening Post over four consecutive weeks in 1943, alongside essays by prominent thinkers of the day. They became the highlight of a touring exhibition sponsored by The Post and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The exhibition and accompanying sales drives of war bonds raised over $132 million.
Freedom of Speech is the first of the Four Freedoms paintings by Norman Rockwell, inspired by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address, known as Four Freedoms.
Freedom from Want, also known as The Thanksgiving Picture or I'll Be Home for Christmas, is the third of the Four Freedoms series of four oil paintings by American artist Norman Rockwell. The works were inspired by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address, known as Four Freedoms.
Mead Schaeffer was an American illustrator active from the early to middle twentieth century.
Ruth Sanderson is an American illustrator and writer of children's books.
Marriage License is an oil painting by American illustrator Norman Rockwell created for the cover of the June 11, 1955, edition of The Saturday Evening Post. It depicts a young man and woman filling out a marriage license application at a government building in front of a bored-looking clerk. The man is dressed in a tan suit and has his arm around his partner, who is wearing a yellow dress and standing on tiptoe to sign her name. Although the room and its furnishings are dark, the couple are illuminated by the window beside them. The contrast between the couple and the clerk highlights two reoccurring themes in Rockwell's works: young love and ordinary life.
Triple Self-Portrait is an oil painting by American illustrator Norman Rockwell created for the cover of the February 13, 1960, edition of The Saturday Evening Post.